PETA Wins LUSH Prize

PETA India is one of the winners of LUSH Cosmetics’ first-ever global prize for its work to stop cosmetics testing on animals. LUSH – an international cosmetics company with more than 700 stores and operations in over 40 countries – granted PETA the prize of 5,000 British pounds in the Lobbying category. That’s because PETA has worked to modernise product testing by working with the Bureau of Indian Standards and persuading its relevant committees to accept non-animal methods approved by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in place of animal tests, including a non-animal skin-sensitisation test. The organisation was also recognised for its efforts to encourage the Indian Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to consider a complete ban on cosmetics testing on animals.

The EU’s phased-in ban on the testing of cosmetics and their ingredients on animals is scheduled to take full effect in 2013. PETA is calling on the Indian government to base its ban on the EU model. PETA’s call for an end to cosmetic tests on animals has also gained support from the Indian Council of Medical Research. More than 1,000 companies around the world have banned all animal tests, but many still choose to subject animals to painful tests in which substances are smeared on their skin, sprayed in their faces or forced down their throats. Because of the vast physiological differences between humans and the animals used in these tests, the results are often misleading.

None of LUSH’s products or ingredients are tested on animals, and its vegan items (no animal-based ingredients) are conveniently marked with a bright green “V”.

You can help by urging the government to ban testing cosmetics and household products on animals. Take action now!